Answers Sought Asunder
by MistikProductions
Summary: Po finally debuts his love for Tigress, but when a misunderstanding leads to his banishment, Tigress decides he isn't leaving the Jade Palace alone. They set out with the five in search of a new home, and encounter some old and new faces along their path.
1. Chapter 1

_**[A/N]:**_** As some of you are about to read, you might recognize some things. I just ask that you do not spoil anything for other readers! This is my very first FanFiction, therefore no flammatory comments please. I will gladly take some constructive criticism though. Also, this story is a re-write the story "Searching for the Answer", by SilverTigerDirector, but with a few twists, turns, and some new **_**ideas**_** I've added with SilverTigerDirector's permission and support. Oh, and there is one other thing I've added. Also, I plan on introducing the original characters soon. Do not worry that they aren't in the first couple chapters, just keep reading. I hope you enjoy!**

_**CHAPTER ONE~~~~~~~~**_

The sky was full of gray clouds as it had started to snow in this peaceful town. Saint's Haven was definitely at peace, as it had been for as long as the many citizens could remember. The town was enormous, prosperous, peaceful, and everyone that resided in it had been promised a safe place to call "home". Saint's Haven had many houses, buildings, and bridges leading to and from other buildings, and a castle that stood as proudly as ever in the heart of the town, a castle that resided the King and Queen of Saint's Haven.

Everything was as normal as ever. All of the shopkeepers had opened up shop. Everyone in the militia was training; the warriors were running drills, the archers were practicing, the sorceresses were meditating, and the clerics were simply helping out citizens. Except for two certain warriors, a swordsman and a mercenary, it was another special training session with their teacher: the King of Saint's Haven.

"En guard!".

_**-sound of metal clashing-**_

"My turn!".

_**-sound of metal clashing-**_

"I don't think so!".

_**-sound of metal clashing-**_

"All right, that's enough training for today, you two. Good work, Tengu; good work, Ren.", said the King of Saint's Haven as he patted both of the now sweating and tired warriors on their shoulders. No one really knew the King's real name, except for his Queen. The King had brightly colored skin, bright yellow eyes, and wore a red cape, golden light armor, and had a deadly-looking two-handed hammer strapped to his back. He spoke to his top two students with a deep, rich, booming voice that instilled both a strict attitude, and a hint of pride in the kind of warriors he has trained.

"Ren, you need to work on conserving your energy, you spend too much focus on one attack, then miss. You use your stronger attacks too early! You may have earned the title of a hero, but you must still never forget what it means to _be_ a hero. If you wish to protect those close to you, you must never let your guard down!" Ren nodded his head in acknowledgement.

"Tengu, you need to focus on keeping up with your opponent, you always let Ren get to your blind side and leave yourself wide open for an attack", said the King. Tengu nodded as well, not looking up to see the King start to walk towards the exit of their training ground that stood near the center of the castle.

Both students caught their breath and bowed to their teacher in respect and both spoke at the same time. "Thank you, sir". The King left with a wave and not another word.

Once their trainer had left, Ren picked up his two-handed axe that was now still sticking in the concrete floor, blade-first. After he sheathed it to his back, he turned to his brother-in-arms, Tengu. He had removed his heavy gauntlet that only warriors used and slid it into his bag. "Good practice today, man.", said Ren as he walked over to shake Tengu's hand. Tengu shook his best friend's hand and said, "Thanks, you too!". Tengu was about Ren's height, had black hair, green eyes, and his skin color had a little bit more of a shade of yellow than Ren's.

Ren, however, was about a month older than Tengu, two inches taller than he was, had dark blue eyes, blond hair, and his skin was slightly a little tanned. He wore no armor, just clothes. Even as the number one fighter in all of their home town, he only wore clothes.

"Man, your possibly the best mercenary in all of Saint's, how do you do it?", asked Tengu as he had grabbed his greatsword that was also sticking blade-first in the ground behind him.

Ren shrugged and thought to himself for a second. "Hmm... I guess it's because... I really don't know, I just am!", exclaimed Ren as he smiled and rested both of his hands behind his head. They both laughed heartily and started to also walk towards the gate.

"Oh, by the way, how's your new gauntlet?" asked Ren with a hint of curiosity as he turned to his friend who was now walking beside him.

"Hmmm...? Oh yeah! I completely forgot about it!" laughed Tengu as he rubbed the back of his head. "You know, you should really give it a try, Ren," recommended Tengu.

"Eh... maybe, but I still like this one", replied the mercenary as he had raised his right hand, still wearing his gauntlet. "It's a little bit scratched, but that's alright, I guess.", said Ren as he lowered his arm. "Where did you get your new one again?".

"From a traveler that I met just outside of Saint's. I first thought that she had been leaving Saint's Haven for some other place to go, but she never even came into the city. A bit odd, don't you think?", asked the swordsman.

"Yeah... pretty odd. Was she just passing by Saint's?", replied Ren, looking somewhat curious.

"Yeah. She said she couldn't go into the city, but as soon as I purchased this gauntlet, she left.".

"Odd.", wondered Ren aloud, holding his chin with his left arm as they walked, apparently in thought. Tengu saw this and acted as if something popped into his head as he asked a question a little louder than he had planned. "Oh wait! Are you still going to Marissa's Dryspring?", asked Tengu, making Ren startle.

"Um, yeah. I am".

"Why are you going again?"

"I still need to gather a demon's paw for Yumigata, she's creating... I don't know _something_, and Marissa's is the only place with anything demonic. Bloodshot still lives there right?", explained Ren.

"Yeah, Bloodshot still lives there. I don't think he'd want you to bother him and his monsters, though. You sure you can take him alone? How about I tag along, you know, just for backup?" requested Tengu.

"No thanks, It'll finish my training for the day."

"Well, good luck, man, You know, Marissa's is one of the more dangerous forests, especially alone. It might take a while for you to get back on your own, so I'll watch over Saint's for you while you're gone.", spoke Tengu, apparently trying to feel sorry for startling him.

"Thanks, don't go to the arena though.", spoke Ren, flashing a quick look at Tengu to see the expression of complete sadness.

"Why?", whined Tengu, putting his hands in front of him, palms facing upward, as if begging like a child would when the parent wouldn't buy the child a new toy.

"Because you tend to get a little too carried away with fighting, Tengu! If you say you are going to watch over Saint's Haven, Then I'll expect that you do it without sneaking away for a quick fight in the arena!", explained Ren, looking towards him, almost trying to silence him.

"All right.", sighed Tengu as they parted ways. Ren heading towards two very high double doors that made up the entrance of their beloved home, and Tengu heading towards what seemed to be one of the town's guard posts with a face of complete annoyance.

_**After a couple hours of Ren traveling**_

"All right...", said the mercenary as he started searching through the shattered remains of what looked like a house that has been crushed, ripped apart, basically covered in catastrophic events. There were alot of houses like this, and they kept going on until the end of the ghostly forest: Marissa's Dryspring. Ren was looking for any signs of bodies, because any signs of bodies meant there where ghosts around; ghosts meant that most of the other of the deadliest monsters would be around, including demons. "Come out, come out, wherever you are!", said Ren in an annoyed tone.

He searched about an hour, looking for any body that seemed like it could still be alive, or at least possessed, he was about to give up completely and just either come back later, or purchase a Demon's paw off of the marketplace back in Saint's. Saint's Haven was a particularly large town, with many ways to get certain materials, ingredients, foods, etc., one way was by hunting them down by some of the many fighters that resided within it's walls.

Right before Ren gave up all hope of finding a possessed soul, he had spotted something oddly shaped in the corner of a house that was a little far away from the other houses. It looked like a little treasure chest moving around, molding into another shape and form. It took Ren about five seconds to realize it was a person, no, a person being possessed by something, or someone.

_ Finally, _he thought to himself as he had started to creep up on the unsuspecting thing, while also reaching for his axe that was strapped across his back. It looked like the thing was eating something that it was holding in its bare hands. The odd-looking creature looked partly human, its dark brown skin and ragged and torn clothes gave it away that it wasn't human... anymore. "This will be easier than I thought!", said Ren as he had raised his heavy axe with one hand as if he wasn't even holding it. As he brought it down on the creature's back, the creature turned toward him with glowing white eyes, but they suddenly closed as he had slammed his axe down with immense force and pressure. Whatever it was, it was dead.

So, with the his easy mission incomplete, and there not being a lot of time left before Bloodshot would awaken, it was time to head on home. After failing in getting what he needed, he had decided it's best to come back with either backup, or with something to bait out a demon or two. Ren sheathed his slightly stained weapon and started walking back through the forest, unbeknownst that a shadowy female-like figure in the trees had been watching him the whole time.


	2. Chapter 2

_****_**_[A/N] I must apologize about the size of this chapter. Some of it will be made up for in the next one! I also don't plan on including many author's notes unless I have to get the word out about something. Enjoy! (And again, if you felt like this chapter was lacking, simply wait for the next one!)__  
_**

_**CHAPTER TWO~~~~~~~~**_

"Hmm...", wondered Ren aloud as he walked passed trees and roots that were sticking out of the ground, making up the forest. He looked from his left to his right while slightly turning his head, it felt like someone was watching him. _Let's try to bait them out, _he thought to himself as he had started to develop a plan in his mind. After about thirty seconds of walking and contemplating, he started a sprint as fast as he could.

He ran through small openings that were made of some tree's roots, ran passed trees, and jumping over thorn bushes. As he was trying to escape, he could hear branches slightly cracking behind him as if something had landed on them, he thought correctly - whoever was following him wasn't too subtle.

Ren had been dashing, jumping, sprinting, basically trying to get as close to Saint's Haven as possible before he confronted whoever, or _whatever_ was following him. But little to his knowledge, he was going in the exact opposite direction of his hometown. After a some time running, he figured that he would be pretty close to the town where he could request immediate back-up if needed to encounter this foe. He thought he might as well confront whoever his pursuer was, still thinking he was close to Saint's. Ren jumped down from an old, but sturdy tree branch to land in a big circular clearing with ease.

"Show yourself!" he commanded as he grabbed the hilt of his axe, readying himself for a fight.

"Oh, come now, Ren, don't be stupid! Trying to challenge me in the position your in!", said a voice somewhere in the trees above him. It was a female voice, but vaguely familiar...

He had hadn't noticed what the voice meant. What was wrong with the position he was in? He landed in a part of the forest that was completely void of trees, and there was a perfect view of the sky, unlike any other part of the forest. "Well, I've challenged you. So come down and accept it!", yelled Ren towards nothing in particular, still trying to distinguish who's voice he had heard.

"Hm... I guess I could fight you for a little. Especially since we _both_ know who the winner will be.", said a dark-haired woman as she front-flipped out of a tree right behind Ren and landed on her feet right in front of him. She was tall and slender, had eyes that instilled a feeling of fear in whoever she glared at, the same skin color as Ren, and she wore a short, crimson red one-peice dress that was easy for her to maneuver in.

Ren backed up a little as he had seen this woman before, she was evil, both in heart, and in mind. "You!", spat Ren as he charged towards her with his weapon behind him as he had prepared a swing. He yelled as he swing his heavy axe towards the figure's head, ultimately failing. She had done a perfect backflip just before Ren swung, landing her feet on a tree that stood behind her. Using her feet to kick off the tree. she lunged towards Ren with one hand wide open, aiming for his throat.

Ren grunted in pain as she had grabbed him by the neck with her left hand. He had dropped his axe to grab her arm with both of his hands, attempting to get her to release her grip, but failing yet again.

"Wrong move!", the figure spat coldly as she balled her right hand that was to her side into a fist, pulling it back, readying to punch him. She thrusted her fist with massive force, enough to shatter a small tree. She drove her fist into his stomach, knocking the wind out of him and making him grunt in pain.

_I need to get out of this!_, thought Ren, _Maybe a howl... but what kind? destructive? defensive? but definitely not enervating, though! That howl takes way too much time to prepair. Damn! there must be something I can do!_. Then he remembered the King's words "_You use your stronger attacks too early!"_, thought Ren. He contemplated on what to do next until the idea popped in his head. He didn't have his weapon in his hands at the moment so... That's it! he smirked as he mustered most of his power and concentration into his right arm and balled his hand into a fist, pulling it back and preparing to punch her right in the face.

He chuckled as he had successfully managed to land his attack right into her face with most of his focused energy, sending her flying right into a huge tree with both of her arms and legs splayed out, creating an X-shaped crater in the tree. After Ren had caught his breath, he smirked. "Gotcha.", he whispered as he reached for his axe. "Now, then. This time, you wont get away, Kaigazuru", Ren said as he had his back to the figure who was still in the tree. Once he had regained the possession of his weapon, he rested the back of the blade on his shoulder as he started to turn and walk towards the tree that she had still been in.

He walked towards the tree with a dark figure still in it, and said; "This time, I wont let you live to hurt anyone else!". Suddenly the figure that was in the tree twitched oddly, making Ren stop in surprise. She suddenly spoke up, but not from the figure in the tree, from directly behind him.

"You're so slow, Ren. How you defeated me before still surprises me" whispered Kaigazuru. It felt like she had whispered right into his ear as she spoke, but she was nowhere near him.

He slightly jumped in surprise, slowly turning his head and widening eyes to the figure, she was standing right behind him perfectly upright.

"What?...", was all he could say. He turned back at the figure that was still pinned to the tree, it was gone.

As he turned back around towards her, he was barely able to notice her as she had lunged towards him again, this time, with less speed but more power. He saw her and had just reacted in time by executing a sloppy-looking backflip, but holding his left hand on the ground as he slid back from the momentum of his jump. She kept running and sped up her pace, only to get behind him again. This time, it was just him with his back to her, and her right behind him, she completely removed his option of backing up.

Ren had gasped when he noticed she had her shortbow out and aimed at him with two arrows notched and ready to fire. A split second later, his face had cringed in pain as two arrows made of Kaigazuru's energy had both hit him in the back with enough force to send him forward onto his knees and hands. With his head down, he noticed a black fog-like aura around his hands and knees. He tried to get up, but couldn't, he could even feel his energy being sapped from him, as the two arrows started glowing for a second, only to fade out-of-existence a second later. The next thing Ren knew was he was on the floor, completely unmoving, his vision starting to blur and darken. He saw her walking towards him and tried to get up and jump back to get more distance, but he couldn't, his body was completely numb.

"Sleep well, 'Hero of Saint's Haven'. You're going to need it.", spat Kaigazuru after she sheathed her shortbow with both an evil smile and an evil plan, then started heading towards Ren's unprotected home. Well, it was still protected, but the _protector_ wasn't the one protecting it.


	3. Chapter 3

_**CHAPTER THREE~~~~~~~~**_

Smoke started to fill the air above Saint's Haven, while the defender lays miles away unconscious. Ren woke up with a gasp. He looked around but found _no one_, he stood up and noticed his axe was right where he had left it. He picked up his weapon and looked at the sky, it was still dark. _"It looks like I wasn't out for too long. Why did she let me live? she didn't even take my weapon! Something isn't right here..."_, thought the mercenary as he had decided to return to town.

There was just one problem, he had no idea where he was in this huge forest. He remembered something and pulled out a small closed compass connected to a chain, clicked it open, and started walking back to where he suspected was the direction of town.

After about an hour of walking, Ren noticed dark smoke clouds high above the sky far in the direction that he suspected was Saint's Haven. Once he noticed this, he started sprinting as fast as he could after he put his compass back in his pocket.

_No!_, Ren thought to himself as he had gotten closer and closer to his destination.

A half hour of sprinting as fast as he could, Ren had reached his destination. His eyes widened as only the most evil thoughts had started to creep into his mind and an ultimate sense of sadness and regret could easily been seen etched on his face. He had fallen on his knees once he saw the horrid sight - his own home town, once beautiful and prosperous, that he had sworn to protect with his life, now simply reduced to to mostly ash and broken stone.

Half of the buildings and houses had been turned to complete charcoal, the castle that stood so proudly in the middle had now been in two major structures; one still barely standing, looking like it could fall at any time, and the other had crumbled onto even more houses and buildings below. None of the bridges that connected the towers were still there, some of them could be seen in many pieces on the floor that they once hung over. Some houses that had still been standing were on fire, weakening wooden pieces, boards, and beams that eventually fell into the houses out of stress, causing more destruction. There were battered and bloody bodies everywhere; on the roofs of houses, on the walls that bordered the town, on the streets, everywhere.

Ren had started to walk through the huge double doors that made up the entrance to the town, one of them had been opened inward, the other had been opened outward. (They're both only supposed to open outward.) As he had passed the streets that he once loved and protected, he felt more anger overcoming him and clouding his mind. He _would_ kill the monster that did this.

There was one thing in particular that had caught his eye. It as well shouldn't have been where it was, but once Ren noticed what it was- _who_ it was. His heart skipped two beats. He dropped to his knees and tears started to form and fall from his eyes. Upon the half main massive tower that connected everything and was still standing, stood a body, impaled by his own sword - it was his brother, Tengu. Even though they were not brothers by blood, they still considered each other as brothers... brothers-in-arms. Ren even knew he was dead by the streak of blood from his lip and from his head, and how his head in a position that made it seem like he was looking down, almost like he was watching the city - but he wasn't. He was murdered in a way that could only be done by someone with no sense of dignity or honor. He had been suspended, high upon the tower, to where nobody could climb, and the only thing keeping him up there was his own greatsword. The hilt was touching his chest, and the blade was deep in the outer wall of the castle. He had been pinned to the highest point of the tower like a paper to a board with a tack.

Ren's mind began to fragment. If this had happened to his closest friend, he really did not want to imagine what had happened to his wife. Wait a minute... _his wife!_

Even though she was a skilled archer, trained in long-ranged precision accuracy, he didn't want to even imagine what could have happened to her. He rose from his hands and knees, and looked in the direction of his own home, dismissing the thought that something bad could have happened to her. After all, _she_ was the only one (besides the King and occasionally, Tengu) who could actually defeat Ren in all of Saint's Haven.

The mercenary felt weaker and weaker the closer he got to his home, once he got to the front door of his manor, he stopped. He somewhat didn't want to open the door, afraid of what could lay on the other side, but found some courage that there could be survivors, and did so anyway. His manor was no longer whole, no building was.

He put his right hand on the only open door. The other had been kicked off of the hinges. He looked around and saw the bodies of his maids, guards, and servants as he walked through his own home. Being a hero, he was given many things like his home and loyal workers that served him and his wife and child. He eventually walked up the stairs, towards his child's bedroom and felt his heart-rate increase severely. As he slowly opened the now black-ish colored door, his heart skipped a beat and his eyes widened even more. He had seen four bodies in the room, two guard's bodies, both had been impaled with swords and spears, and two of the servant's bodies, one of which had no head. He couldn't bear to even look near his baby son's crib. His eyes trailed around the room, and eventually he looked towards the child. Once he had looked into it and seen the gruesome sight, he ran out of the child's room, fell to his knees, and started to vomit in complete disgust at what he saw.

"Oh, such a shame, isn't it, Ren?", said a voice in a bitter tone. "There are no survivors, I made sure of that.", she said with a sinister smile as she stood at the entrance of his manor.

Ren looked up and instantly felt rage seep through his body as he had reached for his axe. "YOU BITCH! I'LL KILL YOU!", he roared once he got up with his axe in his hands. He jumped over the stairs, heading straight for the wicked monster, readying his axe for a swing that he aimed for her neck. Kaigazuru ducked, dodging his attack and leaving himself open, he tried to swing again, but missed as she had executed a perfect backflip, landing in front of the entrance to his home. She then turned towards the door, leaving Ren to think to himself, _Where the hell does she think she's going!_ Kaigazuru then ran out of his manor into the open night, surrounded by still-burning buildings that had looked like they have been burning for at least two to three whole hours now.

Ren followed her out of his manor and fought so recklessly, thus tiring himself out quickly, once Kaigazuru noticed this, she decided to act. _Hm... If I take him into the new world now, he wont have enough energy to fight me for a while._, she thought. _But he still has some energy left, looks like I'll have to make him waste more of his energy, or else something could get mixed up_. She jumped to her left as Ren had slammed his axe on the ground with enough force to create a crack in it. The top of his axe hitting the ground, summoning a massive explosion ten feet in front of him as he roared in anger.

_Hmm? Looks like he's using his more powerful attacks, lucky for me this will tire him out quicker_, she thought as she landed perfectly unharmed. Ren was exhausted, he had almost no more energy left to even keep his axe behind him like his style demanded. "Stop running and fight me!", yelled Ren with a tone of clear anger and annoyance in his voice.

"But what would be the fun in that? You obviously lose your rational thinking when you're mad, Ren", replied Kaigazuru.

"Shut up!", howled the mercenary. Now, he would go all-out, even if it tired him out quicker. He completely ignored all of the pain that bit at his muscles and dashed towards Kaigazuru faster than she could see. A split second later, he was behind her, standing straight up, and grabbed her by the neck. She didn't even have time to gasp or make a sound as he turned around and threw her into a nearby house with all of his strength, causing it to collapse. He had started to breathe heavily, almost panting.

Kaigazuru climbed out of the destroyed debris and walked out of the house, moving everything that was in her way until she got to the front of the doorway of the house, which was no longer standing. She stared at him for a second with an evil look in her eyes, then pulled out her shortbow and an arrow and readied it.

"Very well then, if that's what you want, I'll start to fight. This could actually be a little fun!" she said as she raised her bow and an arrow aimed at Ren, even though she had no intention to actually kill him... yet. Her main goal was to incapacitate him or knock him out for a while. She shot two arrows almost at the exact same time again, Ren dodged the first one with a roll to his left, and the second one landed nowhere near him.

"Fight me for real Kaigazuru!, stop holding back!".

"I'm afraid not, that will interfere for what I have in stored for you, former Hero of Saint's Haven", she spat in reply, only infuriating Ren even more. They had started to circle around each other, only keeping their evil glares.

He looked down, put both of his hands on his temples, focused his strength, and unleashed his anger in an enormous roar. His voice was so very strong, as this was his second most powerful attack. With his power, he pushed little bits of dust, dirt, and ashes back. He put so much effort and focus into this attack that still-burning houses far behind Kaigazuru had crumbled as she flipped out of the way of his attack, yet again. Ren only started breathing heavier after his attack had ended. He was so tired that he dropped on one knee, putting his head down with his eyes barely open, trying to regain his breath.

_Now! he's at his weakest"_, thought Kaigazuru as she had landed unharmed and decided to act.

She sheathed her bow and clapped her hands together once, causing a wind to ruffle the short battle dress she wore. Ren looked up to see what she was doing and his eyes widened in complete shock. He tried to ignore his tired and aching body, got up, readied his weapon, and started walking tiredly towards Kaigazuru, who was a little distracted with what she was doing.

Ren's slow walk turned into a fast sprint, and once he got close enough, he jumped high above Kaigazuru, and brought all of his force and power, along with his axe in a downward swing as he yelled, "Eat _this!_".

Just before Ren's attack hit her, Kaigazuru's eyes instantly opened with a bright glow, as she had finished the first part of her plan. Her dark and focused energy released, creating a massive endless void of purple and black nothingness in the air behind her. It distorted the air around it, slightly sucking in the dust and ashes. Ren's eyes widened as he tried to stop his attack, but couldn't. He was falling towards her fast... too fast... He tried to turn so that he wouldn't fall into the void, but he couldn't: he was still in the air falling towards her with his axe behind his head, ready to be brought down with force onto whatever dared lay beneath it. But the thing he was afraid of happening, happened; he landed right on Kaigazuru, sending both of them into the void.

The next thing they knew, they both felt a sudden wind breeze, it was soft and gentle. Why was there this comforting wind?

The floor beneath them was also... soft. Ren opened his eyes and looked up at the land, everything he saw was a blur, but after a second of letting his eyes adjust to the new bright light, he was able to see what surrounded him - a grassy field, no longer his burning hometown. They were both on the floor, except Ren was on top of Kaigazuru, who was on her back. Once Ren noticed this, he jumped back in immediate shock and landed on his back, but for some reason, he couldn't look up. There was a bright light making his eyes cringe in pain at this light shining at them. It was just the sun, but it wasn't _their _sun.


	4. Chapter 4

_**CHAPTER FOUR~~~~~~~~**_

_What the?_, thought Ren as he tried focusing his eyes to this new bright, blinding light. _Where the hell am I? This isn't Saint's Haven!_

He tried looking around at what was in front of him, trying to identify a building, or a mountain, or a cave, or _something _that he could recognize, but it was all futile. All he knew was that he was sitting on a grassy plain in the middle of nowhere. Wait! No, not _nowhere_, there seemed to be what looked like a village far off in the distance behind him. Ren squinted his eyes. Yeah! There _was_ a village! But it didn't look familiar at all to him.

"Looks like we've made it.", said a weak voice.

Ren gasped and looked down at the body that was face-first on the grassy floor in front of him. His eyes widened and a blue fire, the same color as his eyes, danced wildly in his pupils as he had remembered his main goal.

"YOU! WHAT HAVE YOU DONE? WHERE THE HELL HAVE YOU BROUGHT US?", yelled Ren as he grabbed his axe and readied it to be swung down, hard. He was still shaking, but he couldn't determine if it was what he had witnessed, or if it was the cool, calm breeze that rustled through his hair.

As the female slowly stood up, Ren noticed how weak she was because of the sudden bruises on her body. She coughed twice, breathed heavy, and once she regained some of her balance and composure, she spoke. "That doesn't matter right now. What matters now... is that I make sure you don't interfere with my plans!"

In one quick motion, she got up, and charged straight for Ren. He had blinked in surprise and suddenly Kaigazuru was behind him yet again! He tried to swing his axe around as fast as he could attempting to force Kaigazuru to back up, but his attack was too late, she had both of her hands on his shoulders.

"Stop... hesitating!", yelled Kaigazuru as she flipped over him, still holding on to his shoulders, and threw him high into the air with all of her might.

_Ugh! I need to get a grip or else this definitely isn't going to end well!_, thought Ren as he started to fly high upwards, only to start falling again. _Get... a... grip!_

As he thought this, he focused and turned his body over and looked straight down at Kaigazuru, who just stood under him looking back up at him, frowning. With his axe still in his right hand, he pulled it downward, this time using a different type of attack as before; during the attack before, his weapon was above his head, ready to be brought down. During this attack, his weapon was right in front of him as he held the handle with both hands. This was his most powerful Mercenary skill, it was designed was so that no one could escape once the first part, while the second part of the attack was to make sure there would be no remains.

"Gigantic...", Ren whispered as he fell with even greater speed and focus than he normally would have. He decided that this WAS what he wanted to do.

_Damn! Not THIS! He's going all out now!_, thought Kaigazuru.

Once she had recognized what he was doing and what he had whispered, she decided that she had to get as far away as Ren as possible to avoid _this _attack. She instantly looked behind her and saw what looked like a village, or a small town, but it was very far away. She had guessed it had been about a mile and a half away, and with that, she started a sprint that was as fast as she could ever sprint in the direction of the town: The Valley of Peace.

* * *

The Valley of Peace was as peaceful as it had ever been, or so it seemed. It had been about one month since the debut and death of Lord Shen. Everyone was happy. Well, _almost_ everyone. The one and only living thing that wasn't peaceful in this valley, was oddly enough the teacher of seven of the greatest warriors in all of China; Master Shifu.

He had still been completely traumatized by his own daughter's scoldings, but she was right.

_Flashback: Yesterday_

Tigress and Po had actually started to connect emotionally, little by little. The barriers that stood around Tigress' cold heart started to fade away, with the help of Po and his goofiness. Po, on the other hand, was feeling slightly different than Tigress. He felt like his only purpose was to be used as aweapon. A weapon that was used to defend China. The thought that he didn't actually belong in the Jade Palace was quickly dismissed of, thanks to Tigress and her comforting words.

Po had actually started to master both Viper's style and Mantis' style, enough to at least be able to last with Viper in a spar in the fire pits. During their spar, Master Shifu had noticed Tigress' annoyed expression and wondered to himself why she was annoyed. Viper and Po were only sparring in the fire pits!

Later on, he found the answer to why Po and Tigress had been spending more time together and why Tigress was seemingly annoyed at Po's sparring with Viper. She was in love.

After Po and Viper's excruciating sparring last night, Po felt his body needed rest. Especially after Viper's seemingly endless attempts at strikes towards his ribs. Surprisingly to everyone, Tigress helped the panda to his room. At that moment, Po decided to act upon a slight mistake of asking her to leave and asked her to stay with him. Surprisingly, she agreed.

_Flashback: two hours ago_

Tigress woke up first with a shock . She was so shocked in the position they slept in that she actually jumped out of the bed, waking up Po next. Po only yelped and cringed his face in pain at her claws digging into his ass during the night. Both of them were panicking because of a certain red panda about to burst in through the doors due to the scream.

Shifu burst through Po's door and instantly looked from Tigress, to Po, to Po's slightly bloody cheeks. Unable to maintain his composure, he demanded that the both of them explain themselves. Tigress was still in shock, but became even more shocked once Po told his lie that was meant to place all of the blame on himself.

"I tricked Tigress into coming into my quarters and nerve attacked her when she wasn't looking. When she came to she must have realized what had happened and, with the position I had put us in, she had every right to claw me.", Shifu fell for his lie and lunged at Po's throat with his staff, choking him slightly.

With his rage now on the outside, he asked, "I will ask this only once, panda! Did you violate my daughter?"

"N-no master! I would never do such a thing!", was all the panda could utter before he could no longer breathe.

While all this was happening, Tigress was freaking out on the inside. She was desperately tempted to tell her master the truth, but Po shot her a look towards her telling her he knew what she was thinking, and with a shake of his head, he told her not to. Master Shifu looked at Tigress and remembered her smile and that she was falling for Po. But right now, he simply thought, she would easily keep her distance from him after what had happened last night. The grandmaster looked at Po and this time, spoke not with anger, but with sorrow. "What I cannot understand is why you did this. You brought peace to the Valley, and to me. You were apart of our family. You MADE us a family. This is so out of character for you, but the evidence is clear.", he nodded slightly to Po's injury as he continued, but his speech was slower this time,"I can honestly say, that since Tai Lung betrayed us, I have NEVER been so disappointed in someone. You...are banished from the Jade Palace...for six months. You are still the Dragon Warrior, there is nothing I can do about that. So you will train with Crane and Monkey outside of the village. You will not see Tigress nor have any sort of contact with her until your banishment is over. And when you return we will have a separate room on the other side of the palace for you to stay in. As for you learning the Tiger Style, you will learn from another Master who will stay in your room until you return and perhaps even after that. Now pack up your things. I want you out of the palace in an hour."

_Flashback: one hour ago_

Tigress stopped in front of the doors to the Hall of Heroes and tried as much as she could to calm herself before entering. She took a couple of calming breaths and removed the emotions from her face as she opened the massive doors, not even bothering to ever close them. One of her first teachings from this _monster_ was to never let your opponent see your thoughts, another was to constantly try to confuse your enemy, making them vulnerable to an attack. These strategies did work for her in the past, and they would surely work for her in this emotional struggle.

Tigress stomped into the building towards the red panda, who was trying to meditate atop Oogway's staff. He turned his head to look at his daughter and jumped off of his staff before smiling towards her.

"Greetings, Master Tigress, are you alright? I know this must be hard to accept. Maybe even traumatiz-"

"Hello, _Master_. I have some questions for you if you don't mind.", she gave a halfhearted bow as she stood before him, clearly she wasn't at all happy.

The grandmaster blinked and looked at her for a moment. Obviously she wasn't in any mood to talk about herself. "Very well, ask your questions."

"Was any of that really necessary? He didn't violate me, I am still a virgin and I am still pure. You were too harsh!"

"Tigress, I realize that your feelings for him may conflict with your judgment, but I must stand by my decision."

"You banished him! Keeping us apart for six months, yeah that's _really_ going to keep his obsession over me subside!", she said with obvious sarcasm and had crossed her arms over her chest and lowered her eyes into slits. She was staring daggers at him, trying to make her anger palpable.

Shifu's ear twitched at her obvious plan to show him disrespect. He sighed before he spoke again, "Master Tigress. You are not thinking clearly, your emoti-"

"SHUT UP! YOU are the one not thinking clearly, old man!", her body had tensed up as she clenched her fists and spoke the last two words with gritted and bared fangs.

"TIGRESS! You will address me as MASTER SHIFU! What is WRONG with you?"

"WHAT'S WRONG WITH _YOU_? You speak of my feelings for him, therefore you obviously know I love him, so WHY? Why did you banish the one I love?",her voice wavered as she held back tears. By now, their yelling had earned the audience of Crane, Mantis, and Monkey, who were just outside the door out of view as they listened worriedly, too scared to even imagine of interfering the two.

Shifu was taken aback for a moment before furrowing his brow"I-I was just trying to be a good father!"

"YOU HAVEN'T BEEN A GOOD FATHER SINCE THE DAY YOU SIGNED THOSE DAMN ADOPTION PAPERS!", Tigress' voice was cracked and by now she was crying freely.

It was Shifu's turn to reply, but he didn't. He _couldn't_. He could only gasp on the inside due to her outbursts. His heart couldn't take this. He breathed heavily as his emotions started running amuck in his thoughts, but he still didn't speak a word.

"Have you even asked Master Oogway about your _great judgement_? I know that you have been able to speak to him in the past, so why didn't you do it now?"

The red panda was still silent with his head now bowed. Tigress walked up to her _former_ master, kneeled down, and grabbed him by the collar as she spoke through her fangs again, this time mustering up as much venom in her voice as she could. Her voice was now as cold as the gates of Chorrh Gohm Prison."Take my advice. Tell Oogway what you've done. Then ask him what you SHOULD have done. Then ask him what to do now. Then do it. You haven't come anywhere close to compare yourself to his wise mind and kind heart, so why should you trust your own judgement, and furthermore why the hell should I?"

She stood up as she let go of his collar."I'm done with you. You are no longer _my_ master. I'm leaving with Po. Send me a letter when you've learned to pass judgement once you learn to think right!", she turned around and walked out the doors, leaving Shifu to kneel on the marble floor, speechless and shocked.

"See you in hell, father."

_End of flashback_

Po had left the barracks with Tigress close by his side, holding few bags as they headed through the courtyard. He was carrying what seemed like most of both of their possessions and walked with a face of sincere happiness as he had Tigress' paw in his. While Tigress was walking next to him and holding the rest of their possessions, and his paw. She also held a face of hapiness, but it soon disappeared when the rest of the Furious Five showed up at the gate that stood just between the Thousand Steps, and the courtyard. They bombarded her with questions while keeping their faces of disapproval, which stung Po's heart.

"Tigress, what are you doing?"

"Why are you with _him_?"

"Seriously, if this is how he's going to be, then he isn't _our_ friend anymore, and he shouldn't be your friend either!"

All Po could do was start to tear up and look at the ground in such sadness, even though they didn't know everything that had happened, it hurt him too much to see his best friends and comrades say this, even after all that they've been through. Tigress saw Po's sad expression and growled lowly in anger.

"Shut up! All of you! None of you understand and neither of us are _not_ in the mood to explain!", roared Tigress in anger as she clenched Po's paw and walked passed the three, storming right for the double-doors that lead to the Thousand Steps. "If you need us, we'll be at Mister Ping's shop!", she called back.

Just before she could storm out with Po's paw in hers, both Song and Viper had appeared in the doorway, stopping the both of them before they could leave.

"What are _you_ doing here?", Tigress roared at Song. Then she looked at Viper, who was smiling a little in nervousness."What did you do?"

Before Viper could think of an answer, she had noticed Po and Tigress' bags and answered her sister's question with another question. "What are _you_ doing? Where do you think you're going?

This time, Po spoke up. "Shifu just banished me... and Tigress is leaving with me."

All the poor snake could do was feel pain in her heart. The Dragon Warrior _and_ her sister? in the same day?

Viper's eyes only widened. "No no no no no no! Are you serious? You _can't_ be leaving!"

Tigress looked at her sister and kneeled down. "Don't worry, you'll be able to see both me and Po whenever you want. We'll be staying at Mister Ping's Shop.", then she looked at Song. "And you can stay here and not bother us," she spat coldly with a finger pointing towards the snow leopardess.

After getting her point across and leaving both Viper and Song stunned, Tigress grabbed Po's paw and stormed passed Song and Viper to start her journey down the Thousand steps.

But just after Tigress took the first step of a thousand, she had noticed two odd-looking figures standing in the middle of the steps about two-hundred steps below, facing each other, one held a small bow with an arrow knocked aimed, and ready to fire. While the other held a two-handed axe with a blade as big as his head.

* * *

_**Meanwhile with Ren and Kaigazuru**_

"Bomber!", yelled Ren as he had slammed his axe into the ground with immense power and force, creating a huge crack in the ground he stood on. Then, two seconds later, a massive explosion of dirt, rocks, and Ren's focused and compressed energy had erupted and barely missed the acrobat. So much of the ground was missing that it looked like someone had dug a huge ditch in the middle of nowhere.

_Woah! way too close! I gotta find the closest town! Maybe then I'll be able get some directions while Ren sleeps the night away_, thought Kaigazuru as she somersaulted and flipped just far enough away so that his attack had missed.

"Stop running... and fight me Kaigazuru!", howled Ren in fatigue and rage as he had started his sprint after her, vowing not to let her leave this new, unknown world alive.

After about about ten minutes of both of Ren chasing her, Kaigazuru had reached the town. She flipped over a brick wall with ease, knowing Ren couldn't do anything like that. She had kept running until she saw a very very long stairway, but ignored the palace that lay at the top and ran to the middle of one of the steps. A few seconds later, Ren's gauntlet-covered fist had smashed through the wall as if it were soft wood and soon his body followed, covered in small scratches and bruises. Kaigazuru had backed up to the end of the step once she had noticed Ren, who had only stopped at the other end of the step she was standing on.

Tigress' eyes widened and her jaw dropped in shock once she had noticed that these two creatures had _no fur, except on their heads._ She gasped and everyone had ran to her side and searched for what Tigress had seen, once they saw, all of their eyes had widened and their jaws dropped as well. A few of them had gasped. Tigress, Po, Song, Viper, Monkey, Mantis and Crane were completely frozen in shock, none of them had all never seen such odd creatures before.

The one on the left side of the Thousand Steps had slightly tanned skin, he was as tall as Tigress was, he had blond hair, a two-handed axe in his grip, wore a heavy-looking gauntlet on his right hand, only leather clothes, and rubber shoes. The one on the right side of the steps was tall and slender, wore a red one-peice dress that looked like it was easy to maneuver in.

Kaigazuru had noticed someone had been watching her. She always had this odd feature that showed her someone was watching her. She looked around to see who's eyes had seen her, and once her gaze had reached the top of the stairs, her eyes too had widened at what she saw. _Where the hell HAVE I brought us?_ was all she could think.

Ren ignored her gaze and the fact that she was simply left in complete awe, and only noticed she was distracted. _Now's my chance!_. He swung his axe in a direction that looked as if he was playing golf with it, trying to hit Kaigazuru with a golf ball. He sent a shockwave towards her with speed as soon as his axe had hit the ground.

Kaigazuru had barely seen this and jumped back. Her face had changed from an expression of awe to an expression of anger. She pulled her shortbow from her back, and lunged for Ren, not reaching for an arrow. Ren barely saw her move. The next thing he saw was her foot on his right hand, and an arrow in his face, ready to be fired. Ren growled as he had no idea how she moved so quick, or how to get out of this.

"Excuse me?", yelled Kaigazuru towards nobody in particular. Her words had caught the attention of the Five, Po, and Song, taking their gaze away from Ren. "Do any of you know of the largest city near here?"

Po, the Five, and Song only looked at each other, still with looks of complete shock and didn't know if they should answer this... _thing_. "What should we do? should we get Master Shifu?", asked Mantis.

"For what?", asked a voice. Everyone turned around only to see their master with a look of deep anger towards Po and Tigress. As soon as Tigress had seen the red panda, her face had changed, her features becoming more noticeable, as well as her anger.

"Hey! can any of you actually speak?", called Kaigazuru, still holding Ren down.

Ren's eyes widened. What on earth was she talking about? What did she mean when she asked if they could speak? Surely anyone able to build a city should be able to speak right? He couldn't turn his head to actually see the residents at the top of the staircase, so he tried something that could get her foot off of his gauntlet-covered hand. He used his left hand to try to grab her leg, but she felt his right hand shift under her foot and slammed her palm onto his face with enough force to actually crack the ground beneath his head.

"This ought to buy me some time!", she spat as her eyes started to glow a bright white. Suddenly, everything Ren could see became without color and in black-and-white only. This lasted less than five seconds, but each passing moment had put him through unbearably painful damage mentally. She had placed a kind of spell or curse on him, he knew it, but he didn't know what it did. After the five seconds of Ren's suffering, Kaigazuru lifted her palm from his face and placed both of her hands together, focusing more of her dark powers on something that would slow him down.

Two seconds of her concentrating with her eyes closed and standing still with both of her palms pressed against each other, she released and slammed them both on the step above where Ren was. Suddenly, Ren felt he couldn't move his chest as if it was stuck to the step he was lying down on... wait... he was! Two chains of dark energy had appeared from the step underneath him and wrapped around his chest and pulled his body downward, making him unable to get up or even turn his head.

"Now then, back to my question: do any of you know about the largest city near this place?", called out Kaigazuru as she had looked away from Ren and started walking up the steps towards the still-stunned group. Once she had gotten about ten steps below the step that Tigress was standing on, she spoke again. "Well?"


	5. Chapter 5

_**CHAPTER FIVE~~~~~~~~**_

"May I ask who it is _you_ are?", asked Master Shifu with an unkind tone after taking two steps below the step that Tigress was on, completely ignoring her and the fact that she still hated him with all her heart.

"No, you may not. You can answer my question, though", replied Kaigazuru with a tone as icy as his own. Shifu's eyebrows furrowed, showing his complete anger and distrust at this new stranger. Everyone looked from their master to the odd woman, waiting to see which one of them would make the first move. Suddenly, they heard a voice from below.

"Tell her NOTHING!" The group turned to see the mercenary struggling against the black chains that pulled him downwards.

Kaigazuru growled in annoyance towards him again and turned to the red panda and stared at him with cold, dead eyes. After staring at him with that evil look, she smiled. _Look's like I'm not the only one who can control someone else!_ she thought. Shifu could hear her think this, but how?

The red panda suddenly froze with his eyes widened, he could still move, but he was too stunned to move at what he saw. He was in a black, empty void and saw a... somehow familiar, red-furred lion with bright scarlet red eyes the size of the Jade Palace staring directly at him as a king would stare at a servant who has just failed an important task. Suddenly, the voice of the unknown woman spoke up. "Hmmm, what do we have here?"

Shifu looked at the creature standing right next to him, also staring at the face of the lion, but she held a face of disapproval.

"Looks like you have someone _else_ in your head, old man. Perhaps you answer my question before your... so called _students_ learn of _this!_" Kaigazuru spat as she turned her gaze from the lion to the red panda, and back to the lion. Before he could respond, he had returned to the step he was standing on, staring at the stranger. Kaigazuru looked at him with an evil smirk and dead eyes, as if she had just gave him an order that he wasn't allowed to refuse. He spoke, ignoring his students and Song, "There is Kirokuyoru City, to the North of this town. It will take from a week to ten days of traveling to reach the city."

Everyone looked at the red panda in shock. Why had he just answered this stranger's question? Had she made him do it? If she somehow forced him to answer, how? Everyone had jumped to that conclusion and started to dislike the strangers even more. Especially this woman.

"You fool..." whispered Ren quietly, trying not to be heard insulting someone that he didn't know. Everyone's ears perked up instantly, they had heard him perfectly and gotten a little bit annoyed at this strange new character insulting their master, except for Tigress.

Shifu's ears lowered, he knew that he had no choice but to answer. Everyone saw and didn't like what had just happened. Tigress thought to herself, _Maybe this bitch only has intentions of death or destruction, especially if that other one had such rage towards her, only rage that could be fuled by the thought of revenge._

Tigress let go of Po's paw, leaving him with a slightly stunned expression, to attempt a palm-strike towards this creature's chest. Kaigazuru noticed the tiger's attempt at an attack and almost laughed, but decided if she did, she would have been hit. She sidestepped out of the way of the attack and backflipped to gain more distance between her and her attacker, landing on steps somewhat above where Ren was, still struggling with the chains that wrapped around his torso. Tigress noticed how she moved with immense agility and finesse, so she tried another attack, this time, only planning on analyzing if Kaigazuru would strike back. She lunged toward the stranger with speed and power, attempting another palm-strike, this time successfully hitting the acrobat. Kaigazuru let out a grunt of pain and grabbed the Tiger's paw with her left hand, making sure that she couldn't escape. This was a bad move. Tigress palm-striked her again with her free paw, landing a hit directly into Kaigazuru's face, sending her sprawling back to the step just above Ren. She dropped her fighting stance and decided she had wasted too much time in this small town.

Everyone noticed this, including Ren. His eyes widened as he could barely turn his head, but just enough to see what she was doing. Her eyes were closed and her palms were together.

"Stop her!", yelled Ren towards Tigress even though he couldn't actually see that she was a tiger. He just knew that she had attacked Kaigazuru, and hoped that she would prevent her from escaping towards her destination. Tigress didn't know what to do, or even _think_ after what she saw next. She saw Kaigazuru's eyes open with a bright white glow to them, and suddenly, it looked like her body had turned to a black liquid as it dropped to the stairs, draining as if the stairs had a sewage drain, a second later, Kaigazuru was gone and the chains that bound Ren had faded out of existence.

Once they disappeared, he got up, still not looking at Tigress or any of the other animals. He just grabbed his axe, sheathed it to the strap on his back, and punched a step as hard as he could, creating a noticeable crack in it. "Dammit, she got away...", he whispered. He turned around, towards the Valley of Peace, and started walking down the steps at a slow pace. Tigress started to get annoyed at nobody explaining what was going on, so she put her paw on the mercenary's shoulder, stopping him in his tracks.

She spoke as serious and as cruel-sounding as she could ever be. "Hold it! Who the hell are you? and who was that who just got away? you have _alot_ of explaining to do!"

The stranger didn't respond, he was just standing still, but twitched as he heard Po, the rest of the Five, and Song's feet walking down the steps towards where he and Tigress were. A second later, he brushed her paw off with his left hand and twitched again. _That wasn't a hand!_ was all he could think. He turned around and almost jumped back in shock at the sight. These were animals! not humans! and they could _talk_! He pointed a finger at Tigress and whispered, "You're... you're...", after a couple seconds of thinking he spoke again, "wow... where in the hell HAS she brought us?"

"Well? cat got your tongue?", spat Mantis.

"Mantis!", shot Viper as she smacked the back of his head with her tail really hard.

Ren shook his head before he spoke again. "I-I'm sorry, this is going to be a long explanation, perhaps I should explain inside...", he whispered as he turned around and started to take a step up the rest of the Thousand Steps.

"No, Po and I are still leaving. You will have to explain this to Shifu!", interrupted Tigress before Ren could take another step towards the Jade Palace. She took Po's paw and they started their descent down the Thousand Steps, entrusting the rest of the Five to watch this odd new arrival.

_**Inside the mess hall**_

Po and Tigress had already left for Mister Ping's Dragon Warrior Noodles and Tofu - leaving the rest of the Five to deal with this weird _thing_.

Nobody dared to speak at the table while Mantis cooked. He was nowhere near Po's level of cooking, but it sufficed. Ren simply sat in complete uncomfortableness as he could feel everyone's eyes on him, looking for or weaknesses, or imperfections that they could use against him. "Would you all please stop staring at me?", he said while fidgeting with his wedding ring that he wore under his left glove.

Everyone ignored him and kept their stares as _no one_ trusted this odd new character. Ren simply looked down and closed his eyes before he spoke up again. "Alright! I'll explain, I might actually need a little bit of help."

"And why the hell should we help you?", spat Crane.

"Because for one, the city that Kaigazuru is headed to is in grave danger!", replied Ren.

"Kirokuyoru City already _is_ in grave danger!", Song said with a voice just above a whisper. It was her glare that made him the most uncomfortable out of the rest of the Five.

"Well, let's just say that whatever placed the city in danger before is _nothing_ compared to what's placing the city in danger now. As for another reason, all I'm asking for are few supplies for the trip to stop her!", said the mercenary with a sad expression on his face.

"What are you talking about? you still have to explain who you are, and who she is!", shot Viper.

"And why you want to kill her so badly", added Crane.

It took Ren a couple of minutes to think of a response that sounded fair. "First of all, my name is Ren. Secondly, could I request a... a sort of... private conference? with who ever is in charge here?", asked Ren quietly.

The rest of the Furious Five simply looked at each other with disapproving faces, "Why can't you just tell us?", asked Mantis after receiving a nod from Viper.

"Because for one, I feel that whoever is superior should know the story _first, _before any of his/her students do.", said the mercenary with a heavy tone of respect, not wanting to anger anyone. His current goal was actually to get their trust so that he could possibly ask for some rations and directions to wherever it was that Kaigazuru was going. He needed to show these animals that he was their _comrade_, not their enemy.

Everyone looked at each other again, this time, they had to agree with his logic. This creature was right, lucky for him. "We'll take you to Master Shifu, but let's just say that you should be warned, his temper right now will make him uneasy to convince. Actually, let's just say his temper will make him uneasy in general" said Viper. Ren nodded.

She led the stranger out of the kitchen, through the barracks, and into the Sacred Hall of Warriors where a red panda was sitting cross-legged with his back to the two. _He's so small, is he the teacher of these students?_, thought the mercenary to himself as they entered.

The red panda didn't turn around and spoke with an icy tone in his voice. "Viper, why have you come? and who have you brought with you?"

The snake gulped in fear, then replied. "He claims to be the enemy of the woman from before and asks for a private conference with you, master."

Shifu's eyes remained closed. He took a little bit over a minute to think before he spoke again. "Fine, make it quick!"

Viper motioned for him to walk closer to the sitting red panda with her tail. After he had walked halfway through the Hall of Sacred Warriors, the snake left, and the master had only said one more word, still with the icy tone in his voice.

"Speak!"

The mercenary jumped, then sighed, then cleared his throat. "My name is Ren, and the woman before was known as a criminal. She slaughtered many innocent people and burned their homes. She is known only as Kaigazuru, she just destroyed my home town and killed all of my friends and family, including our King, my beloved wife... and my son." Ren had whispered the last part hoping not to be heard, but the red panda had heard him clearly.

"She is a monster, with an endless thirst for destruction and murder. She fights with a shortbow and her demonic, destructive powers. Our home town is- _was_ called Saint's Haven and It was my job to protect it, I was given the title of 'Hero of Saint's Haven' by our King."

"She destroyed your home while you were defending it?", asked Master Shifu, still with the same unkind tone as before.

"I _wasn't _defending it, though. I left the town for less than an hour to retrieve something for my wife, but Kaigazuru had caught me off guard and incapacitated me, leaving me unable to stop her plans of destruction while I wasn't there to protect my home. When I returned, she opened some kind of void and apparently, it lead us here. I'm not too sure if this was where she had planned for us to go, but regardless, I have to stop her. All I ask for are some provisions for my trip to Kirokuyoru City, I believe the name is. I overheard you say that the trip will take from seven to ten days, and with her powers, she could reach the city in about a week. If I hurry, I'll be able to catch up to her and hopefully not _all_ of the city would be destroyed."


	6. Chapter 6

**[A/N: Just some news regarding me. _If you don't care, skip to the story._**

**I'm taking a break from ASA. This will be the last chapter until I get back. To those who I haven't already notified and whoever cares for a reason: I'll be in Europe! **

**And I must apologize for not uploading in a while. The reason I've been away from my computer is I've working on a project that my colleagues and I are planning to take to Europe and work on it there. Just because I'm really excited to be able to go to Europe on my own at such a young age, (not telling my age) I feel like sharing a little more with those who care enough to read this:  
**

**Where in Europe will I be visiting?  
**

**A.) Brussels (Belgium)  
B.) Lucerne (Switzerland)  
C.) Liechtenstein (Austria)  
D.) Innsbruck (Austria)  
E.) Venice (Italy)  
F.) Rome (Italy)  
G.) Pisa (Italy)  
H.) Vatican City (Italy)  
I.) Rome (Italy)  
J.) French Riviera (France)  
K.) Paris (France)  
L.) Lyon (France)  
**

**See you all when I get back! and please, enjoy reading!]  
**

_**CHAPTER SIX~~~~~~~~**_

The red panda pinched the bridge of his nose at the end of Ren's tale. He had been speaking for so long that his throat was beginning to become dry and raw. After about ten minutes of thinking on what to do, The grandmaster spoke.

"Fine, you can stay here. But for the weekend only! After that, I want you out of this Palace!" he spat the red panda in anger, while still having his back face the mercenary, who was now shaking in fatigue (due to his lack of rest), and fear.

"Th- Thank you, sir," whispered Ren.

"You will address me as 'Master Shifu'!" Ren only shook even more as he got up and turned around towards the door but didn't take a step closer to it.

"Um, I have no clue where to go..." whispered Ren to himself as he stood there, looking at the ground in front of the door. He really didn't want to have to ask the grandmaster where to go. He simply looked over his shoulder towards the sitting Master Shifu, who lowered his ears against his head in annoyance.

"Ask one of the Furious Five to show you towards your living quarters," he said as unkindly as before.

The mercenary smiled softly and bowed towards the master, even though Shifu couldn't see him trying to show as much respect as he could. "Thank you, again. Master Shifu."

He then left the Sacred Hall of Heroes and followed the trail that Viper had shown him less than an hour ago, and eventually made his way back to the kitchen, where there was no one around. Ren sighed and looked at the ground again, really not wanting to disturb anyone to ask them where he would be living for the night. His wish came true as he heard a voice behind him.

"I see you're still in one piece. Damn! you must be either the luckiest man in the world, or Shifu's just calmed down enough not to feed you your own heart," spoke a somewhat familiar voice. Ren turned around and almost reached for his axe, but stopped as he noticed it was just a rather annoyed-looking snake.

Ren gulped before he spoke. "H-he must have been mad for something before I got here. It's not really my place to interfere, but he said I may stay here for one night before I leave for Kirokuyoru City." spoke Ren in a calm tone of voice.

Viper still held her version of a "death glare" towards him before she spoke again, this time, in a bit of a softer voice than before. "Fine, I'll show you where you'll be sleeping."

The mercenary nodded his head with a quiet "Thanks!" as he followed her out of the kitchen and towards the barracks and into their living quarters.

_**Meanwhile...**_

"Dad?" asked Po as he and Tigress entered his father's shop.

The old goose turned his neck so quickly it almost snapped. "Oh, Po!" he waddled as fast as he could towards his son and hugged him as tight as he possibly could. "How have you been, Po? It's been days since I saw you last! What's going on? I heard screaming and yelling from the Jade Palace a few hours ago and I got so worried!", the goose almost whispered that last part, but they both noticed it.

"So, I guess even _you_ heard that, huh?" Po scratched the back of his head. "Yeah, That's kind of what we came here to talk to you about."

"'We'?" Mister Ping looked at his panda son, then looked at Tigress behind him, then he looked at their paws, which were together. He continued to look from his son, to the tiger, to their paws for about sixty seconds, then he broke the awkward and unbearable silence, "Ohohoho! My boy is finally all grown up! First you move out of the house, then suddenly out of no where you take a mate!"

Po only facepalmed and blushed. As did Tigress, but not as much as Po was.

"Do you enjoy embarrassing me, dad?"

"Yup! I have an entire _list_ of things that I've planned to say once you've chosen a mate! And this is one of them!" the group laughed wholeheartedly, then died down as Po was waiting for his father to say "just kidding!". He never said it.

"No, wait. You're serious?" he then facepalmed hard, making Tigress giggle.

Mr. Ping then barely noticed both of their backpacks and their possessions. Him being short kind of blocked his view when they first entered, but he noticed their belongings once Po looked down in embarrassment with a sad face.

"Are you going on _another_ trip? You just came back! With all that you're carrying... it looks like you'll be gone for a long time!"

Po turned his head towards Tigress, who smiled and nodded her head at him.

"Can we talk inside?" he sighed. "This might take a while to explain."

"Yes, sure! Of course!" Mr. Ping led both Po and Tigress inside and they set their backpacks down. Once they had entered the kitchen, they sat by the stove because there wasn't much else for them to sit. Tigress, still being afraid to show her affection for Po in front of someone else, especially his father, hesitated before sitting in Po's lap and laying her head on his shoulder. The goose saw this and smiled at the two as he patted Tigress' knee softly. Then, he sat down in front of them and leaned in a little as he spoke again. "So, what's going on? _Are_ you two going somewhere?"

Po explained every little detail that had happened, except for the part about Ren and Kaigazuru. Tigress slightly flinched when he described her and Shifu's little... _argument_. Po's dad got up and sighed heavily, looking really really mad.

"I only have three things to say right now. Firstly, I'd like to say how happy I am for the both of you for finding each other, and that I give you my blessings times a hundred. The second thing I'd like to say..." he picked up an iron cooking pan and hit them both on the top of their heads with it, but gently though. Both Po and Tigress yelped in pain and rubbed their heads, looking at the goose with confused faces.

"I want to say that both of your actions these past few days were very stupid! Shifu didn't have any right to punish you the way he did, son, but the both of you acted far too rashly!" sighed Mr. Ping as he set down his skillet. Then he looked at them both with a smile as he spoke again, "And finally, both of you can stay as long as you please. Wherever you decide to go, Po, I want to go with you. And you, Master Tigress, I'd be really honored if you called me 'Father' from now on."

Both Po and Tigress shot a look of surprise at the goose, then pulled him in for a group hug. Tigress started to cry in the hug, but they were tears of happiness. She finally had a family. A true family. They broke their hug after a couple minutes.

"Po, go on ahead upstairs and start settling back in your old bedroom. But no 'getting intimate' tonight, got it?"

Tigress was still trying to get up from Po's lap, but she slipped and yelped as she fell back onto Po, making him fall back in his chair and slam right on his back, making a loud sound and causing the ground to shake. Po groaned and sat up once Tigress got off him, both of their faces turned seriously red. Especially for Tigress, the black stripes on Tigress' cheeks were almost camouflaged into the orange fur from her heavily-blushing face.

"Um, dad?" asked Po as he rubbed his now-aching back with his paw while holding his other paw out to his father.

"Yeah?"

"Gimme the list before I die of a heart attack."

"I'm sorry son, but this game is just too fun!" he said as he started laughing and getting ready for the dinner rush by chopping up some vegetables. Po simply facepalmed yet again and stood up with a heavy sigh before picking up his belongings and carrying them upstairs, with Tigress right behind him with her things as well.

That night, both the tiger and the panda got a great amount of rest that they've both been craving. Sadly, to neither of their knowledge, someone was watching them from the rooftops of the building that was next to the one they resided in. The watcher was in a crouched position. It swayed it's tail out of frustration, as if it was going to strike the two lovers at any second without warning. Once the sun began to set over the horizon, the figure watching them dashed. From rooftop to rooftop before running up the Thousand Steps to the Jade Palace. Once the figure reached the top, it panted as it opened the doors as slightly as possible. There lay a snake that had been sitting directly in front of the doors waiting.

"Well?" asked Viper. "Did you give them the message? Did you at least leave it there for them?"

Song, who was still catching her breath, shook her head, then spoke with a shaky voice. "No... I couldn't do it... They're just so happy together... why cant you, Mantis, Monkey or Crane just come with me again?"

Viper looked annoyed, just like earlier. She kept in the urge to yell at Song because she didn't want the feline to be revealed, so she spoke in a screaming whisper. "Because _someone _has to stay here to protect the Jade Palace, as well as the Valley of Peace! And I'm pretty sure that Master Shifu isn't going to guard it himself!" spat Viper, trying to be sympathetic to Song since she explained to her what had happened between the leopard and Po. Although Song wasn't making things easy. They were short on time, and this was the eighth time Viper had sent Song to the Valley to give the fake letter to Po and Tigress. Every time Song came close to Mr. Ping's shop, she just froze. Her only movements were to either step back or hide, she couldn't even be seen by the seemingly inseparable couple, she had to hide so that they couldn't see her.

At this point, Viper had very little patience left. She swiped the message from Song and stared at her, her eyes as daggers and her voice as impatient as she was, although she spoke as softly as she could. "You know what? Fine! If that's how you're going to be, then just be that way! But listen here, first thing in the morning, both of us, you and I, are going to the shop to talk to them. I'll do all of the talking, but you have to be the one to hand the message to either of them, got it?" she said, wagging the scroll that was clutched in her tail. Song finally nodded in defeat and walked towards the barracks to get the little sleep she could. Viper sighed before following the snow leopard into the barracks. Once she finally got to her bed, with the scroll never leaving her sight, she drifted off to sleep. As did the rest who resided in the Jade Palace. Well, except for one person in particular.

Ren only sat at the side of his bed with his head in his hands, still trying to register what had happened only a few hours ago. _How __could I let this happen?_, he thought. And with a heavy sigh, he decided to let himself get at least some rest. He'd need his strength for the revenge he so craved and that fueled his anger. With all of the anger and hatred he held so close right now, most of it was towards the dream that taunted him.

_The dream he had was a memory he lived. The first of the memories he relived was one that he wished he'd forgotten the most. It was the first time he'd cheated death._

_It was him and his brother-in-arms, both of them looking a few years younger and dressed heavily, as if they were going to walk through a blizzard. Tengu sat at the top of a snowy mountain, with a height that would let anyone touch the top of the world, IF they dared to climb it. Some feet below him was Ren, struggling to keep climbing. Far, far below them was a town covered in ice and snow. It was smaller than Saint's Haven, but it still held citizens who were promised a safe place to call "home". And that had been given to them. Especially one citizen in particular who simply didn't join the two warriors in their hike up the tallest mountain in the world- in their world. Ren's beloved wife.  
_

_As his brother sat at the top, looking out into the world, Ren struggled desperately to keep climbing. He held two pieces of metal in each hand. Both of them were shaped like hooks. One of them had been impaled into the snowy mountainside to act as something to grab onto for Ren, and the other was still in his hand at his side, ready to be swung to use to lift himself higher. He grumbled a little as he pulled the free-hook back and prepared to swing it above the hook that was already in the mountainside, but what he didn't notice, was that his grip on the already-swung hook was starting to slip. He couldn't feel it due to the numbness of his hand (along with most of his body), and the heavy gloves he wore to protect himself from the snow and ice. He swung the ice-pick hard and it dug deep into the snow above where he currently was, but at the same time it made impact, his grip slipped away from the previously-swung hook, and he fell. He still held onto the hook he had just swung, as it dug deep into the ice, cutting through it like it were soft bread. There was now a clear line in the side of the mountain from the hook he let go of, and the hook that was still digging down.  
_

_He wanted to try to shout to get his comrade's attention, but before he gave himself the chance, he thought to himself that if he did, he'd probably start an avalanche on the town below. And with his logic, one death is better than a hundred deaths. So with a grimace at his choice, he let himself slide down the mountain on his knees and shins. The hook that he still held stopped digging into the side of the mountain as it hit a rock and stopped sliding instantly. Because of this, Ren's grip slipped away yet again. Now, he was simply rolling down the side of the hill, awaiting pain. He had no clue if this was going to be a little, or a lot of pain, all he did know, was that this was going to **hurt****.**  
_

_What surprised him was the fact that he stopped tumbling down the hill, as there was no more hill for him to keep falling down. He fell off one side that was somewhat-shaped like side of a cliff and landed so far deep in snow that the numbness crept over his body too quickly for him to be able to free himself, so he simply let himself feel the numbness before he lost consciousness.  
_

_The next thing he remembered was he was in a hospital bed with his sleeping wife to his right, and Tengu lightly snoring in a chair on his left. Once he had registered the fact that he was still alive, he was granted the peace-of-mind that he so needed right now, and fell back to join his family's sleep. Surely they must have gained some peace-of-mind from him being alive.  
_


End file.
